Preparations are underway for celebrations to mark the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade.

A three-hour programme has been lined up for Commissioner’s House, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday, March 25 — 200 years after the Slave Trade Act was introduced to Britain and its colonies including Bermuda, in a move which ultimately led to the outlawing of slavery itself.

Sunday’s event will include a series of presentations and speeches, although full details have yet to be confirmed.

At 5 p.m. on Sunday, people of all religious and ethnic backgrounds are being urged to pack the Cathedral for a service featuring presentations from community leaders and prayers and hymns symbolising the anti-slavery movement.

It is thought the Commissioner’s House event and the Cathedral event could be linked with a minute’s silence at some point during the early evening. Meanwhile, an event to commemorate the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is being set up for Wednesday.

It is expected to include the reading and signing of a proclamation at the Cabinet Office, followed by a march to the office of the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality.